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RPlog:Drax's Gift
Still recovering and unable to return to her duties, Jessalyn decided to leave Sabine with Elosha and get out of her room for a while, her own brooding thoughts scattered across too many worthy and troubling topics. Grateful to be rid of that annoying hover chair, Jessalyn is glad to be wandering the Temple under her own power as she leaves the Promenade and comes to the Solarium, a datapad tucked under her arm. She pauses near one of the fountains and glances across the room, spotting the little Twi'lek who's occupying a seat and looking especially thoughtful this morning. Perhaps feeling a twinge of sympathy, she heads in Wrista's direction and flops down in a chair near her, turning on the datapad and eyeing her over the top of the device. "Good morning," she greets cheerfully. Drax has been walking for what seemed like hours, leaving an occasional pile of ash along his trail as he runs through various strategies in his head for the next step. Occasionally, one of these would pop up where he could avoid any involvement. It wasn't a possibility, he knew, but he couldn't help but ponder it as an option. Selene was one of two planets he had never wanted to go anywhere near ever again, perhaps even trumping the other. Deciding to take a break from the subject, the Alderaanian looks around with renewed interest in his surroundings. He finds himself standing near one of the fountains and he decides to pull in a little closer while rummaging through his pockets. After a moment.s effort, he pulls up an old, beat up credit coin and holds it up for a few seconds before dropping it into the water. Turning his back to the water, Drax's eyes fall right on the Twi'lek clad in an outfit clearly identifying her as a marine. He sizes her up instinctively, checking to see just what her capabilities may be before he eventually bows his head in her direction. His focus is pulled to the side as he sees the red-headed Jedi enter the room, feeling a knot develop in his chest as he knows what he is going to have to discuss with her. And once again, two well-known disturbers of the Temple's peace are heading into the solarium, toy starfighters in their hands maneuvering in a desperate dogfight for the fate of the universe. Sha'dria leads the way, a black and red plastic Cygnus Assault Gunboat in her hand. "Your technique is weak, you freedom fighter scum. Prepare to join your comrades in the next world!" Her fighter dives at Kiri's light-blue and gray X-Wing. "/Fwooooosh... pyew-pyew-pyew!/" Kiri, giggling in his exhiliration, noses up the X-Wing and makes an impossibly sharp turn. "Missed, Imperial, but I won't! You should talk less and fight more!" And this time it's the X-Wing's turn to jockey for position and open fire. "/Whish! Pyew-pyew-pyew-pyew-pyew!" Sha's fighter zigzags and jinks, climbing for position, and the battle continues. Will Kiri save the universe from the evil Twi'lek?! Well... the twi'lek Marine certainly doens't seem that impressive right *now*. Certainly, what can be made out of her physique is the sort of toned muscle one expects... but she's all of five feet tall, which just looks even smaller the way she's curled up. But then again... her uniform *does* bear Captain's rank tabs and a 73rd Brigade Command unit patch, so she must be quite competant. Wrista, usually so very sharp-eyed and aware, just barely catches and returns Drax's nod, and completely misses catching Jessalyn coming until she speaks up, and the twi'lek starts slightly, but musters a grin that comes reasonably close to her usual sunniness. "Oh! Good morning, Master Valios. I hope the day finds you well..." she trails off, red-colored eyes tracking the burst of childhood activity, and her grin becomes just a touch more natural, before she turns her attention back to the Jedi, sitting up a little straighter. "So far, so good," Jessalyn replies dryly, winking at Wrista as the Marine uncurls and smiles. "Your friend is recovering well, yes? I will have to check in on him soon myself." She surmises that Vengan's well-being must be on the diminutive Twi'lek's mind and keeps her tone light and optimistic, despite the direness of Draelis' prognosis and the bizarre implant they have been unable to remove or suppress. The Jedi turns her head and notes Drax, her gaze drifting from the smoking end of his nicostick to the operative's gaze. "Mr. Rendolen," she says, lifting a free hand in greeting. "Do you know Captain Ipex?" She makes quick introductions of the pair, before a little tickle in the back of her mind warns her of the approach of her son and his beloved caretaker. A wide smile crosses her face and she looks over to watch the pair as they come swooping in, engaged once more in an epic battle of good versus evil, and she laughs as she watches their hijinks and then calls out, "Good morning, you two." The knot in Drax's stomach turns with the sudden burst of activity which heralds the entrance of Sha'dria and Kiri. The Twi'lek had a way of reminding him of his time with Karrde's organization, the tail end of which involved an operation run on the very planet he would soon be returning to. The activity between the two, however, has a way of setting him at ease as he allows himself to observe the tactics employed by the young Jedi child. A sly grin forms on his face before he raises his comlink up to his mouth while he looks to the side to direct his voice in another direction. "Shortie, meet me in the Solarium. It's time." Upon hearing his name, he cuts his conversation shut and snaps his head back around to regard the marine. "No, I don't believe that I have ever run into her. Good to meet you, Captain." As the two troublemakers come closer to the forming group, Drax brings two fingers up and snaps off a mock salute in their general direction. "Close, rebel, but not close enough!" Sha's fighter turns tight and cuts inside Kiri's fighter's pass, dropping back onto its tail. "Now you're finished! /deetdeetdeetdeetdeetdeet-DAAAAA... FWAOSH!/ Missile away!" Kiri's fighter starts to maneuver, and suddenly the daring starfighter ace catches sight of a recently-discovered real-life hero. "Mister Rendolen!" he calls, forgetting the game and hurrying over. Giggling, Sha follows, waving to Jessalyn and the small Twi'lek she's speaking to. "Morning, Lady Jessa, miss!" "Oh, yes, last I checked," Wrista answers Jessalyn. "He's joking and laughing, so I'm not really worried-- it's just a matter of time now," she says confidently. It seems the Jedi's wholly understandable guess as to her thoughts this morning. As Drax is introduced to her, Wrista tilts her head, and abruptly, the professional Scout shows through, as her red eyes track over him like a scanner, in short, methodical movements even as she smiles winningly at him. "A pleasure, Mr. Rendolen," she offers, alongside a sort of informal little salute. As Sha'dria and Kiri finish their approach, she straighens further, letting her legs shift to sit crosslegged instead, and her lekku form a repectful silent greeting for the other twi'lek, somewhat absently, to go with a pleasant, Coruscanti-accented, "Good morning." Wishing she could feel Wrista's confidence that Draelis' recovery will be affected with time, Jessalyn manages to smile as the marine comments on his progress. "We'll take good care of him." There, that's truthful enough, she tells herself. She tips back her head to look up at Rendolen, watching as his demeanor changes upon seeing Kiri and the Rutian nanny. Of course, it's impossible for her thoughts not to turn to the matters she and Rendolen have in common, and she watches him steadily before asking, "So have you returned from your... mission, Drax? I hope it was fruitful." Though in truth, Jessalyn has conflicted feelings about the developments that have been going on. Part of her is selfishly excited about the prospect that Paul is now able to touch the Force, a topic that has been of some contention between them over the years. But another part of her is horrified because that ability was only gained because of Darth Malign's evil tampering with his genetic makeup. She grins widely as Kiri goes darting over toward Drax, and smiles to Sha'dria as she's greeted. "More introductions!" she chuckles. "Captain Ipex -- my son Kiri, and my friend Sha'dria, who's doing me a great service by helping keep these younglings in line." The almost reactionary scan that Wrista makes doesn't go unnoticed as Drax catches it out of the corner of his eye and makes a note of the behavior that was quite common among marines and the black ops commandos employed by NRI. "Hello there, Kiri. How goes the fight?" He smiles to the little one and then directs it to Sha'dria as he nods his head towards her. "Hey, Sha. How are you holding up against this one?" Perhaps the attention on the young boy was a conscious choice to try and avoid obvious subjects, but as Jessalyn raises the topic, his smile starts to fade. "Yes, my vacation on Coruscant was rather productive. We wrangled a location from the researcher, but it isn't going to be a very nice place to go. Radiation suits required for the next trip, if you're up for it." "Captain," Sha says as she steps over, nodding respectfully at the Twi'lek Marine and somehow managing to retain her cheerful smile while doing it. "I'm just watching Kiri right now. Doctor Nighman's keeping an eye on Sabine, though he said he'd call me at the first sign of a dirty diaper. Scaredy-cat." She lifts a hand to her mouth to stifle giggles. Kiri, for his part, is over by Drax, looking up at him with eternally-amazed eyes. "Goo' morning, Mister Rendolen! I was winning! Did ya bring your spaceship?" He glances down at the toy in his hands, then back at the former pilot. He does manage a glance and a quiet 'Hi' for the Twi'lek Marine, but quickly turns his attention back to Drax. There are far more important matters to consider! Sha laughs, turning her attention to Drax. "He outdid my Tallon Roll and was closing for the kill. But only because I sprained my wrist a couple days ago and couldn't flex it so well." Wrista is naturally curious after Drax's hinted response, but she knows well when to stop listening to a conversation, or at least appear to, and she turns her attention to Sha'dria and Kiri, favoring them with a bright smile. "Call me Wrista," she offers, then adds, "It's nice to meet you both. You must be the little one that chased Jared up the tree," she muses in Kiri's direction, though with a sudden little run of sadness to her voice. Starwind... would probably not be climbing any more trees anytime soon. If at all. Radiation suits? Jessalyn eyes Drax warily and turns off her datapad, which never got more than a cursory glance to begin with, and stands up from her seat. "I'm up for it, if you need me," she says, even though she knows that's partially a lie. She's still weak and recovering, but perhaps with another treatment and some meditative healing, she'll be closer to her usual self. Nodding her head to assure herself of this as much as Drax, Jessa touches Rendolen's arm. "Sounds like we need to have a talk. And this time we're going to have the good doctor join us," she says gravely. Speaking of, Jessa gives a start at Sha'dria and laughs when her attention is drawn back to the aqua-skinned Twi. "Don't fall for it, Sha, he can change diapers. He's just pulling your leg," she chuckles. "I guess Elosha got busy with the other kids. Poor Paul!" She drops her gaze down to the little boy as he tries to draw Drax into their games, and reaches down to ruffle his hair affectionately. "Wrista... call me Sha, then," the other Rutian replies, smiling. "And it's a pleasure here, too. I haven't met many Twi'leks on this world that weren't with Zhao. It's nice to know we aren't /all/ criminals and dancing girls!" And just then her comlink beeps. "And I'll bet that's the dirty diaper I was warned to expect," Sha murmurs ruefully. "Want to go and help me, Kiri?" "No thank you, Auntie Sha," Kiri says, almost deadpan in his youthful earnestness. "She's /stinky/!" Sha laughs. "Yeah... last time you compared her to a tauntaun, and the tauntaun came out ahead." She leans close and hugs Jessalyn, then Drax. "I'll be back. Gotta rescue the poor, helpless Doctor..." Winking, she hurries out to take care of the matter. "I'd prefer it, Jessalyn. I'm not fond of going there. Either way, let's set up a meeting later on and I'll work up some insertion plans in the meantime." Looking over to Sha'dria, Drax adopts a playful tone, "Oh, suuuuure... blame the wrist. Excuses, excuses. Well, good luck with the diaper rescue!" The Alderaanian chuckles to himself and then looks to the child. "I saw that. You've got a hot hand in the cockpit, kiddo. You'll be an ace in no time." As Kiri asks about his ship, Drax looks up and sees the form of an R2 with red accent paint weaving his way towards the group. "You know, I did you one better. I know you want to be a pilot and there are a few things that every pilot needs." As the retired pilot says this, the R2 droid slides in next to him and he slaps a gloved hand down on the top of his domed head. "This is Shortie. He's the astromech droid for your very own X-Wing that's waiting for you down in the hangar bay. It's going to need some work to get her back into tip-top shape, but I'm sure you're up to the task." The classic Rendolen grin makes an appearance as he looks at Kiri and then looks over to his mother, curious what her reaction may be. "Oh. Right. By the way, is it alright if I give my old X-wing to Kiri? I haven't flown her in years and she just takes up space in the hangar. Best to cut costs and hand it off." Wrista chuckles and waves at Sha as she heads off. "It is indeed," she agrees, eyes flicking over toward Jessalyn as the present is revealed. And she grins impishly, fishing in her pocket for a package of her ubiquitous sugarsticks, one of which goes straight into her mouth. "Aren't you lucky," she murmrus towards the Jedi. "Sounds good," Jessa replies to Drax. "Just one question, though. Where we going?" She blinks as Sha'dria's comlink goes off and the Rutian excuses herself, then bends down and picks up Kiri, settling him onto her hip. The little black-haired boy is still beaming as Drax goes on about his future as a great fighter pilot, and she turns as she hears the astromech come rolling unexpectedly into the room. Whatever Jessalyn had thought of Rendolen up until now, her suspicions and wariness over just how deeply he had "infiltrated" the Sith Empire, all of that seems to dissipate in light of this gesture. "Drax," she says, clearly shocked. "I -- I don't know -- " Kiri, for his part, starts to squirm as he realizes the little droid is his, and Jessa drops him back to the floor so he can rush over to have a look at Shortie. "My -own- real X-wing?!" Kiri crows. "Not a toy?!" He looks at his mother with pleading eyes, and Jessa lifts a hand to scratch at her head before giving Drax a look. "You are far too generous, Mr. Rendolen," she murmurs. "He's only five years old, you know." "Guritsan. The facility is in the wastelands of Guristan." Shortie blurts out a series of beeps as his head swivels back and forth between Drax and Kiri. The retired Brigadier General nods his head and pats the droid in a reassuring manner before continuing, "Jessalyn, when I was a teenager I ran away from home to become a fighter pilot. He may only be five right now, but he'll grow up faster than you know it. He's a good kid, but so was I. When flying gets in your head, there's no fighting it." A smile once again slides onto his face as he nods his head to the little boy while dropping to one knee to meet his eye level. "It's all yours if your mom agrees, but you're going to have to follow your mom's rules when it comes to using it. If you can promise me you can follow the rules, then I'd be happy to hand her over. Remember, flying is fun, but it's also serious business." Making a fist, he knocks lightly on the head of the astromech, "Shortie is quirky, but he's gotten me out of a ton of tight spots. Another plus is that he's just as indestructible as I am." Five years old. The age ring in his head as he remembers the age of his own children and stands up suddenly and looks around the room. Perhaps it was time for him to leave. He looks down at young Kiri with a serious look on his face and then looks over to Jessalyn, trying to think of something to say. The intelligence agent ponders the nature of his mistake as he sees how attached the child is growing to be with him and guilt starts to overcome him. He was going to have to stop coming to the temple, this just couldn't happen. With his line of work, it just wasn't fair to let children get too attached. Wrista watches the scene play out silently, with a thoughtful expression as she sucks on her candied stick. The twi'lek has known a LOT of pilots, even in her relatively short career, as well as their droids in many cases. In fact, she counted Luke's astromech among some of her best friends at times. So watching the young Kiri meet the droid strikes her as soemthing of a seminal moment-- very likely history in the making, given the fickle way that Destiny loves to arrange these things. In fact, the entire affair manages to pull her out of her inner brooding for some several moments as she soaks in the event unfolding in front of her. Something tells the little Marine that one day, she's going to be glad she was around to witness it. It surely takes some work to walk around, encumbered as Draelis is. A complicated brace and manacle keeps his hulking left arm pinned to his side, the prosthetic rattling and twitching despite the retraints that hold it in place. He is moving very gingerly, as if not entirely in control of his body. He leans on a walker and a Jedi healer is in attendance, an arm's reach away just in case the Marine suddenly falters. He's limping slowly along, but the sunlight seems to be reviving his spirits with each step he takes. Jessalyn's green eyes stare back at Rendolen as he reveals the location of their mission, and she swallows a lump in her throat, forcing herself to push thoughts about going into that ravaged, lifeless wasteland from her mind. She smiles faintly and folds her arms across her chest. Drax certainly has a point regarding Kiri's enthusiasm about flying, and it's not a trait he got from her so she's not quite sure what it's like to be unable to resist the urge to take to the stars. "Well, I'd hate for him to have to run away from home," she says wryly, and goes quiet, watching as Drax crouches down to talk to Kiri one on one. The little boy pats the front of his new astromech droid, his expression gleeful and beyond excited. But when Drax kneels down beside him, he watches him with big green eyes just like his mother's, nodding his head in fierce agreement. "I'll follow the rules, I promise. Mama? Please?" Kiri pleads, turning that gaze on her, and Jessalyn can't help but chuckle. She smiles widely and rather impulsively... she hugs Drax around the shoulders, a little choked up. "Thanks," she says into his ear, before drawing back and nodding to the boy. "If you promise to be good and follow the rules, you can keep it. But it's going to be a while before you're able to fly it on your own, got it?" The Jedi spares a glance over at the Twi'lek woman and winks at her as she sucks on a sugarstick, and Kiri comes rushing over and throws his arms around Rendolen's leg. There is a feeling that an intelligence agent sometimes gets when he's in too deep. He had gotten it once before, years ago on Guritsan, when his operation to rescue Drew went off the wire and he had to make some tough decisions to turn things around. A smile is forced into his face as he looks at Jessalyn and nods his head, "Yeah. Sure. It's my pleasure." As the little body makes contact with his leg, Drax drops his attention down and he eyes the top of Kiri's head. "You take good care of her for me, kiddo. I'm holding you to it. Anyway, I should get going. I have some things to take care of. I'll be back in a few days to review things with you then. Let the good doctor know about the find." As Kiri releases his leg, Drax fires off another mock salute in his direction before following it up with another to the Twi'lek woman. "Captain. Take care." A hand drops down to Shortie's dome and drags along the casing as the A-Wing jockey walks away, remembering that this was the droid he had left his final set of "If you're watching this, then I'm probably dead" messages on before going to Guristan the last time. Perhaps it was best to part ways with it, but a part of him was surely going to miss the little guy. As his hand falls off of the droid, it reaches inside his jacket for a fresh nicostick, which he wastes no time in lighting along his path out the door, drawing a stern look from the incoming Jedi healer. The silent twi'lek gives Drax a little two-fingered salute in response, almost like she has some vague sense of his thoughts and isn't sure she expects to see him again any time soon. Maybe it takes one to know one, so to speak. It is a mystery. As she watches him leave, Wrista catches sight of the incoming Draelis, and sits up straighter, flashing a grin and a wave. The smile still isn't quite hitting her eyes, but whatever's been bothering her today has at least partially subsided. Perhaps sensing some of Drax's reticence now that he's gained the affections of the little boy, Jessalyn takes another step back and folds her hands as Kiri returns the operative's salute. "Thanks, Mr. Rendolen," he says politely, and goes back to his inspection of the new droid who's plaintive little wheeping noise is probably a farewell to his old master. Jessalyn clears her throat and lifts a hand to Drax as he backs away. "I'll tell Paul. We'll meet up soon," she murmurs, her thoughts drifting inevitably back to the upcoming mission and what's at stake. "Goodbye." Turning, Jessa spots the patient who's being escorted into the solarium by one of Alika's healers, and she brightens momentarily. "Captain, good to see you on your feet," she calls out to him, and glances over at Wrista to see her reaction. "I know someone's had your well-being on her mind." The Marine smiles and lifts his free hand in a wave at Wrista and Jessalyn, and moves slowly towards the pair. "Hey, you two," he smiles weakly. There's a somnaumbulant, drugged quality about him. "Fancy meetin' you two around here," he chuckles. The Marine nods at the Healer at his side and moves to a seat not fair from the pair, settling down next to them on a bench. The arm rattles against the manacles, but they seem to be holding the limb firmly in place. "What brings you two around?" The twi'lek looks a litle pensive at Draelis' question, shifting on her seat to get back to cross-legged, elbows on her knees, and her fingers laced in front of her nose with the index digits steepled, while she considers it. It's not his appearance that causes so much thought, lekku curling slightly along her back. Rather, it's about how much she cares to answer the question. Finally: "Oh, you know Command. Enforced leave to recuperate from our game of tag. I was hoping some time imposing on the Order would help clear my head." But so far, it hasn't been working out that well. With a chuckle, Jessalyn arches her brows at Draelis as he takes a seat close by. "Well, I live here, you see," she laughs, walking over to Kiri and his new best friend and crouching beside them. "So... shall we go take a look at this ship of yours?" she says to the little boy, who squeals with excitement and hugs her neck. "I'll see you two around, I hope. Captain Draelis, don't be a stranger. I want to hear a report on how you are doing soon. Captain Ipex, it's good to see you again." The Jedi straightens up and takes her son by the hand and the pair depart, the astromech Shortie wheeling in to follow behind them. Drax's Gift